This Week in Trumplandia
Welcome to This Week in Trumplandia. Check in with us every Thursday for a weekly roundup of the most pertinent content on our country.
...morePosts Tagged: The Washington Post
This Week in Trumplandia
Welcome to This Week in Trumplandia. Check in with us every Thursday for a weekly roundup of the most pertinent content on our country.
...moreThis Week in Trumplandia
Welcome to This Week in Trumplandia. Check in with us every Thursday for a weekly roundup of the most pertinent content on our country.
...more
President of Smut
Our country has always been ruled by and for the privileged, but never has this glaring injustice in the system been made so shamelessly clear.
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The Read Along: Neda Semnani
I picked up The Odyssey because I wanted to read about wanders and refugees. A story about a man who takes a decade to get home and is on a quest for safety seemed like a good place to start.
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Readers Report: The Emperor’s New Clothes
A collection of short pieces written by Rumpus readers pertaining to the subject of “The Emperor’s New Clothes.”
...moreTrump + Books = ???
At Electric Literature, Dani Spencer looks at Japanese writers who have already written dozens of books that envision what the world could look like if Donald Trump were to win the election. Let’s hope that’s the closest we have to get to finding out. Meanwhile, on a lighter note, Twitter imagines how the known non-reader […]
...more“Our Parents Wouldn’t Let Us”: The Death of Liberal Arts
The liberal arts are shrinking fast on college campuses, and for one simple reason: parents don’t want their kids to have liberal arts degrees. For the Washington Post, Steven Pearlstein, Professor of Public Affairs at George Mason University, writes about witnessing this phenomenon firsthand in his own classroom. Parents are more interested in the graduation-to-employment pathway, […]
...moreA Fictional Tyrant Come to Life
At the Washington Post, Carlos Lozada compares Donald Trump with the fictional dictators of two novels that seem to uncannily anticipate the rise of today’s foul-mouthed “politician.” Sinclair Lewis’s It Can’t Happen Here (1935) and Philip Roth’s The Plot Against America (2004) both feature totalitarian politicians that will eerily remind readers of Trump’s policies and personality. […]
...moreInvention of Place
Aram Goudsouzian reviews Mitchell Duneier’s new book, Ghetto: The Invention of a Place, the History of an Idea. In the book, Duneier explores how the term “ghetto” has evolved throughout history, and what we understand the American ghetto to be today: Engaging a host of classic works of urban sociology, Duneier describes how social scientists […]
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The Rumpus Interview with Melissa Gira Grant
Melissa Gira Grant talks sex workers’ rights, labor politics, the novelty of women’s sexuality, and her book, Playing the Whore: The Work of Sex Work.
...moreRefusal to Read
At Slate, Jacob Brogan responds to the Duke freshman who has made the headlines for speaking out on his refusal to read Alison Bechdel’s graphic novel Fun Home, on the grounds that it is “pornographic”: Sex becomes pornographic when we detach it from its living, breathing context…He only sees those brief images as pornographic because […]
...moreLollapalooza Nostalgia
In celebration of this era recently stirred up by the release of Montage of Heck, the Washington Post published an oral history of Lollapalooza’s most alternative of tours. In 1995, Lollapalooza’s founders took a break from booking platinum artists and experimented with featuring a lineup that matched the “indie” and “alternative” labels that are now so […]
...moreGreen Eggs and Keg Stands
Beloved children’s book author Dr. Seuss was a bit of a frat boy, the Washington Post claims. The author of dozens of quirky titles drew cartoons for the campus literary magazine and was caught drinking gin—in the middle of prohibition. The incident got him kicked off the publication.
...moreChoice Encourages Reading
Students who read four to six books in a summer are more likely to maintain their reading skills between semesters. As a result, many schools develop summer reading programs to help stave off the inevitable intellectual decline students face during the summer months. However, assigning books to students might be less effective than allowing them to choose. […]
...moreThe Novel’s Lack of “Tension”
In the Washington Post, Hillary Kelly argues in favor of bringing back the serialized novel.
...moreJames Patterson, Philanthropist
Bestselling author James Patterson is giving school libraries $1.25 million in grants of $1,000 to $10,000 for books, reading programs, and technology, reports the Washington Post. Patterson has previously pledged $1 million to 175 independent bookstores. His generosity is all part of a broader goal to encourage more reading nationally.
...moreThe Lehrer Affair
If Jonah Lehrer ever writes a book about irrationality, it would be hard to imagine a better case study than his own. Like the best of his stories, it’s surprising, instructive, and deeply ironic.
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